The mother of a woman allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador gave emotional testimony to lawmakers Wednesday about the moment she found out about her daughter’s death while testifying that U.S. borders are "not safe."
Patty Morin, whose daughter Rachel was killed last year in Maryland, testified at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the border crisis.
Police found Rachel’s body stuffed in a culvert and, after a months-long investigation, identified her suspected killer as an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who is also accused of murder in his home country and raping a mother and her 9-year-old daughter in Los Angeles.
"It was such a complete shock to our whole family. It took ten months for them to find this suspected illegal immigrant," she told lawmakers.
"An illegal immigrant that was a gotaway from El Salvador had waited for her on the trail. I was told that they grabbed her, dragged her through the woods, raped her, strangled her, murdered her. We were told that her body was blanketed in bruises. And I can tell you from looking at her when I went to the funeral home that it was probably the most graphic thing that I've ever seen," she said.
The hearing, "A Country Without Borders: How Biden-Harris’ Open-Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security," saw lawmakers trade barbs over who was responsible for the crisis at the border, which saw a historic number of migrants hit the border and a number of criminals released into the U.S. as part of that wave.
Ahead of the hearing, Republicans released a report slamming the Biden administration’s policies and blaming it for the crisis and the consequences that followed.
"As we continue to witness Biden and Harris’ resistance to doing anything meaningful about this disaster, we have to ask — why? Why did they let this crisis take place and why have they let it continue," Chairman Mark Green told the committee.
BIDEN-HARRIS BORDER CRISIS: VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME TESTIFY IN HOUSE HEARING
While Republicans blame the Biden administration for the crisis, the administration and Democrats say it is the fault of Congress for failing to pass broader immigration reforms to fix a "broken" system and provide additional funding. They have pointed, in particular, to a bipartisan Senate bill to provide more funding and limits on asylum entries. Republicans refused to back that bill, saying it would codify high numbers at the border.
With that stalling, President Biden signed an order limiting entries into the U.S. in June. The administration says that has led to a sharp drop in encounters at the border since then.
"While you probably won't hear it from those on the other side, border encounters are at their lowest level in years since the president's proclamation on June 4, and encounters along the border and ports of entry have decreased by 55%, with Border Patrol recording the lowest number of border encounters since September 2020," ranking member Bennie Thompson said.
He also scolded Republicans for not backing the Senate bill.
TRUMP MEETS WITH RACHEL MORIN FAMILY AT BORDER
"At the direction of former President Trump, Republicans blocked the Senate bipartisan border deal, and they are refusing to move necessary border security funding. Republicans don't want border security solutions. They want a political issue," he said.
But Morin had a warning for Americans watching the hearing.
"They say that the borders are safe. We live 1,800 miles away from the southern border. They're not safe. They're not safe. If you have a sanctuary city in your state, you're not safe," Morin warned.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
